Wind energy is key for Pennsylvania

By John Hanger 
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Remarkable changes in harvesting the wind to generate electricity makes wind power one of the best energy and environment stories of the decade. From Pennsylvania to California, America’s wind power generation has more than doubled since 2008 and will be capable of powering 17 million homes by the end of this year.

Gamesa construction manager Chris Edwards, stands under one the 400 foot windmills they have put up in Portage Pa. September 2007.CHRIS KNIGHT/The Patriot-News

This growing abundance of wind power is an energy revolution that has included Pennsylvania, where 25 wind farms in Fayette, Somerset, Blair, Cambria, Tioga, Bradford, Lycoming, Schuylkill, Luzerne and Wayne counties will produce enough power for 450,000 homes in the commonwealth. All that electricity will be produced without air emissions, water withdrawals from streams or polluted water needing safe disposal.

While the promise of wind is now being realized, these are the best and worst of times for the wind industry. Pennsylvania will build more wind farms this year than any other year in the commonwealth’s history. Impressively, by the end of this year, seven states will get more than 10 percent of their total electricity from wind.

Wind power is now an important means of keeping our lights on and electricity affordable by boosting supply that goes into the competitive electricity markets. More supply means lower prices for all consumers, whether or not they specifically buy wind power. Economies of scale and excellent manufacturing by companies such as General Electric have made wind turbines more efficient, powerful and cheaper, dropping wind power to a low 5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

In Pennsylvania, from Bucks to Erie counties, up to 4,000 people go to work in the wind industry every day. These Pennsylvanians are part of the 70,000 Americans working in the wind industry. Those jobs, local tax payments, turbine lease revenues to landowners and enough zero pollution power for 17 million of America’s homes are the fruits produced by the wind industry to date.

Yet despite the large benefits produced by the wind industry, partisan gridlock in Congress threatens to make 2013 a year when little new wind power will be built. Additionally, more than 35,000 wind industry jobs could be lost, at least temporarily.

Despite strong support from a bipartisan coalition, Congress so far has not passed an extension of a crucial production tax credit that expires at the end of this year. Failure to do so will raise sharply the effective tax costs for wind power and make a bust in 2013 likely.

Anticipating that 2013 will be a bust, some wind companies have already begun layoffs, and thousands more layoffs will follow unless Congress acts soon to extend the production tax credit. In Pennsylvania, the uncertainty of policy has already led to furloughs in Bucks and Cambria counties, with Gamesa announcing layoffs of 165 employees starting in late August.

This is where you can make a big difference by supporting wind power in two ways: first, you can contact your member of Congress and U.S. senator to urge an extension of the wind production tax credit. Raising the taxation of wind by not extending this credit is the wrong course at the wrong time.

Second, you can help build the demand for more wind farms by buying wind energy for your home or business. I live in Hershey and buy 100 percent wind energy for my home. My mother just switched to wind power, cut her electricity rate and locked in the favorable prices for two years, giving her piece of mind. Every purchase of Pennsylvania wind energy speeds the construction of more wind farms and cuts your pollution footprint.

Indeed, switching to zero pollution wind power is the most powerful action that a family can take to clean the air and water. 